Kenneth A. Lechter, Esq

Ken Lechter retired (December 31, 2011) as Acting Assistant Deputy General Counsel in the Dispute Resolution Division of the Air Force General Counsel’s Office. Ken’s principal program responsibilities were the Air Force Negotiation Center of Excellence and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the area of acquisitions.  He provided negotiation and ADR training to Air Force JAG attorneys, Air Force acquisition professionals, Air Force environmental and real property professionals, Air War College students, and civilian Air Force employees wishing to become certified Air Force mediators in workplace disputes.  He also provided negotiation and ADR training at the Army War College, Army JAG School, NATO, the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE), the FBI, and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, as well as presented to the Public Contract Law Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Prior to joining the General Counsel’s Office he was senior procurement counsel for the Department of Commerce with primary responsibility for litigating appeals at the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals and bid protests before the Government Accountability Office. He also served as the Department of Commerce representative to the Inter-Agency ADR Working Group Steering Committee, recommending policy on ADR across the federal government. During his tenure at Commerce, he was detailed to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he served as Associate Director of Administration, to the General Counsel, where he served as Chief of Staff, and to the Department of Defense, where he was a principal draftsman of the Iraqi Government Procurement Order (CPA Order No. 87).

Prior to entering federal government service in 1991, Ken was a managing partner of Fisher and Walcek in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he specialized in civil litigation in the areas of torts, contracts, and domestic relations in both state and federal courts and administrative, and served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the Maryland Health Claims Arbitration Office. He also was appointed as a mediator by the Courts of Maryland’s 7th Judicial Circuit in domestic relations cases. He was a multi-term member of the Board of Directors of the Prince George’s County Bar Association.

After his government career, Ken also served as in-house counsel to Management Solutions Inc., a consulting and construction management company in Gaithersburg, Maryland, providing legal advice, among other things, on government contracts and claims disputes.

Ken is a member of the ABA Sections of Dispute Resolution and Public Contract Law.